Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1919 — Quick Change in Style of Gowns [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Quick Change in Style of Gowns

1 New York, —It "is time to change a few things apparel, asserts a prominent fashion ahthbrity. Women are leaping fropi uniforms ifito inedu»val gowns of gold, and crystal, and tulle in brilliant colors, and injo - There ara ;stgnifitTiTrt* ehangys w<>rking up front the ground. There is the new decolletage which vv;is prophesied In this department weeks ago and which f-ominj; i»un view :is smart i women exploit it. Half a doz.cn new j ways of cutting the neckline have leaped into existence and a dozen new i eolhirs i.-laim rhe blue, .ribbon of exi cellence. No matter whether we dress | differently, about the hips’and feet, ! we are dressing decidedly differently —about tiw ne«'k and even the wrists. It is in these significant changes I th-,, t’u- ;-|-o:it mi:.-< Ilf Women are int. r.stcd who do hot foe! that they can 1 afford entirely new gowns for the midseason. ; The artist who!said that all changes in fashions for women consisted in the placement of the bulge, or the absence of it, should have added that the open spaces. in costumes were second in importance. Cut-to the bone, there is no doubt that be was right. The contour m tlie. thing. It is where a garment goes In or out determines its fashion. Few women there Tire who are brave enough to go against the contour of hour, even though it may not suggest the best there is in their figures. New Decolletage. . The change in the neckline is perhaps the most important to the average woman. She has belief in herselff when it comes to cutting a new kind of neckline. She feels that a good pair of scissors may be the medium of transforming an old gown into a new gown by the simple process of turning an oblong neck into a round one, a square one, or a U-shaped one. ' j

All history is filled with rapid changes in the neckline, and so far we have not had anything fiew. We have rung the bells of history aril over again. That is all. When Edward II was king of: England the; women wore the geor* gette. which wrinkled about the neck and spread outward over thfi chin and the back of the head. This was introduced to fashion a few years ago through a dancer and her clever designer. It is still worn by women who go motoring, and they make it of dark blue crepe or veiling, rather than of white satin. \ When Richard II was king his French queen brdtight'* over the fashion of the low neck, and so. after centuries, women dropped the neckband of the gown from chin to collar bone. \ v When Elizabeth was queen of England the delta decolletage was invented, and it ra© along with another neckline that exposed-all the chest and half the shoulders, apd, then, as if by a sudden spasm of prudery, hid the neck and ears by an immense ruff. When James I came to the throne of England his queen introduced the very decollete, tight bodice with its immense, flaring collar of wired lace at' the back. <and when Charles —I allowed Henriette of France to lead tire fashions for fiis court, there was the low, round neckline that dipped v»ell downward in the back and wgs finished with a deep collar that extended over the sleeves. AKffelyiMnftP introduced the low, square cut decGHetage/guilttess of col-~ ■lar, which our women have worn sos «two decades; and in the middle of the eighteenth century, in the Georgian era, women used a simple decolletage in a . rounded V’ outlined with ■ a wrinkled handkerchief as a part of their street tttdxe. Running the mind over this slight

summary of historical changes in the decolletage, it is easy to see that we have done nothing new;. but here Is what we are going to do at the immediate moment: Revive the delta, of the Elizabethan times, the deep square of Anne, with Ttfitight, high -hue-at- the side of the EiiCk, and tte U-shaped decolletage of the end of the eighteenth century, with its modesty pii <■!• nf la<-<. Return of Lace, Qgfttaai — We have gone through a season of medieval severity in the neckline. Women have aided nature which made them ugly or cheated nature which made them beautiful by going about without a'ny softening effect at 1 the neck, by wearing coat collars of heavy lioiuespun unrelieved by white, and by the use of V-shaped lines of heavy velwmcOT'wrtrtr unadorned. True to history this was, hut not true' to art. There were few women .who looked their best in such severity. Today collars return slowly. There' art? still those who tell you they are not smart, but at the exclusive house there is a tendency to put precious lac'e on the new neckline. It is not a V-shaped neckline; it is a deep L' VYhich calls for a softening outline and an extremely 1 "Soft arrangement of lace or tulle across the bust. ~ T The Queen Anne decolletage which hugs the side of the neck and runs do wn into a -narrow L-shaped opening is extremely smart, and it is banded with fur and then filled In with fine folds of sillTnetr - It is felt by those who have their hands on the pulse of fashion that the oblong neckline of the Renaissance is no longer smart, although 1t Is worn by some well-dressed -women. . Double Neckline. There is a disposition on the part of some designers to make a double neckline, and this they do by a subtle

arrangement fabrics. A certain. designer has ' turned out a remarkably brilliant gown of raspberry chiffon having a deep U-shaped decolletage outlined with chinchilla which swings the chiffon with the movement of the figure, as though it were a necklace. Beneath it, and hugging the bust in the eighteenth; century manner, is a bodice with a rounded There will be.an oblong Renaissance neckline that reaches from shoulder to shoulder, cut -on a tight satin bodice, and over that will be swhng a looser bodice of colored chiffon dr tulle which is high at the back and has a long, rounded line in front that drops to the waist. Black and seal brown velvet afternoon gowns have the Queen Anne decolletage. which follows the exact line where the neck is placed on the body , until it gets to the-collar bone, where it dips into a straight, open space half way to the waist. This is outlined with fur. Again, it may be outlined with Verft’t'iaiT'point. The delta decolletage is considered the most becoming of all for evening wear. Get out any picture of Eliza-, bethan times and you-will see what is meant. In that gorgeous era • the women wore a jevi eled plece of open net over the shoulder to the .base of Hm neck at each side, and then' the decolletage spread downward tind outward to the arm-pits. ’ ' Take this change in the neckline seriously. It will govern the clothes of the next few weeks. - i - (Copyright, 191 K by McClqre Newspaper Syndicate.)

V-shaped decolletage in back of a black velvet evening gown which is cut high in front. This idea is worked out in many types of gowns, even those for street. Delta decolletage shown in new brocade evening gown in white and gold. This neckline originated in the Elizabethan days.